There’s been something of a furore in the Anglican Church in the
USA. It seems that the Primate of the Anglican Church, the Most Revd
Frank Griswold, was seek sneaking off to attend a Roman Catholic Mass in
his spare time. Wearing blue jeans and a red plait shirt he said
“I just wanted to be with Jesus. So I received communion with the
other 30 people there.” He added he was finding it “sort of problematical
to figure out who I am as a public person and who I am as a private person,
when I am off-stage and when I am on-stage.”

If you’re an Archbishop, that’s perhaps a particular problem - but,
then, it is a problem for many of us. Putting the clerical collar
on puts me clearly in a role which makes people view me differently from
the person next door. But if I’m at a football match or a game of
cricket or shopping I may well prefer to be with it and just be another
person in the crowd. School-teachers are notorious for not wanting
to live near their schools so that in their leisure time they don’t keep
bumping into their pupils. The policeman doesn’t frighten people
by wearing his police uniform off duty. All of us indeed have different
caps to wear on different occasions. Sometimes we’re dad or our wives
husband or a business colleague or a friend or a competitor. Today,
on this Civic Sunday some of you come wearing badges of office, visible
or invisible as Mayor or Councillors. And all of us view ourselves
not just as individuals but also as Citizens of Market Deeping.

Yet the Christian cannot push this too far, for we have to be true to
ourselves and true to Christ. It’s no good the clergyman appearing
a model Christian and then being a hooligan at a football match or elbowing
old ladies out of the way. It ‘s no good the Christian being a model
employee or manager at work, kind and considerate to staff and being an
absolute swine at home. We have to be true to ourselves and also
true to our vocation. That’s not always easy or comfortable for any
of us.

WE have some interesting examples in today’s readings. First we
heard about Elijah and Elisha. Not the prophet Elijah was an old
man and Elisha was the successor that God favoured. We have an interesting
account of the handing over of power and authority. Elisha wants
to be true to the Spirit of Elijah. In the same way I as a clergyman
want to be true to the spirit of the apostles and indeed of Guthlac.
Civic leaders want to be true to the spirit of those who have faithfully
served this community in the past. In the case of Elijah and Elisha,
the mantle, or cloak of Elijah is of great significance. After Elijah
had disappeared into heaven in a whirlwind, he dropped his mantle.
Elisha picked it up and at once felt the Spirit of the Lord with him.
That Spirit which enabled him to cross over the water both physically and
metaphorically. And it is, of course, no accident, that Bob wears
the Mayoral chain of office around his neck. The mantle of Mayorhood.
The chain of office symbolises all that is important about the office and
how it should be exercised.

Of those people whom Jesus encountered in this morning’s Gospel some
didn’t want to be bothered with his way. They were happy as they
were. They didn’t want any challenge or trouble. If they helped
Jesus they may get the blame later, reprisals may be taken. Better
to tell him to go away. Others did want to follow him, yet
Jesus had to remind them of reality, had to help them work out the best
way of coping with their particular situation. Could they really
lead a wandering life without home or possessions? Had they really
got their priorities right?

How can we resolve the different hats that we wear? How can we
determine whether we have got it right? What are the tests we can
apply in our lives to see if we are in danger of hypocrisy? To see
if we have the balance right between being “off-duty” or “a private person”
yet still faithful to what we proclaim in public.

Paul gives us the clue in the second lesson that we heard - his letter
to the Galatians. True freedom, he is saying, is in service to one
another. This is true in our public roles and our private roles,
though the opportunities may well be different.. he remind us that
the law is summed up in “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'”
Not seeking to take advantage or to exploit, not giving full range to ugly
and destructive passions - enmity, strife jealousy, anger, quarrels, factions,
drunkenness. But rather measuring up to the fruits of the Spirit.
He lists these also:- love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control.” Do we try and bear witness to these
qualities in what we are trying to achieve in a public sense in our community?
Are our policies directed to these sort of qualities? And furthermore,
do we live up to them ourselves in our own lives both public and private.

Now all of this is a tall order. Certainly in the life of the
Church we often fall short of our ideals. Those negative and destructive
emotions can and do from time to time creep into church life. And
so they do, of course, into civic life as well. We are not perfect,
the system is not perfect. Yet surely the point of a Sunday like
this, a Civic Sunday is that we try to put a sense of vision before our
eyes. We want to be proud of what we have achieved and what we are
trying to achieve. We want our community to bear the fruits of the
Spirit. We want to be good examples ourselves.

Christ will support us in all of this. He will put on us the mantle
of his Holy Spirit, the Spirit that guides us into all truth, that helps
us make right decisions. We hope that no-one will expect us to be
on duty for every minute of the time but that nevertheless what we are
and what we are working for may harmonise and draw others towards the building
up of the sort of community that we all want. Amen.